Abba Kyari Was Nigeria’s De Facto President – Yoruba Leader, Prof Akintoye Claims

The Yoruba World Congress (YWC) on Monday rubbished the several empathies for Abba Kyari, late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The body labelled Kyari as Nigeria’s de facto President and suggested that he was the one controlling the nation’s affairs.

YWC President, Prof. Banji Akintoye, in a statement issued by Adeyemi Adeleye, the Director of Communication, drew the attention of Nigerians to the enormous powers the late CoS wielded.

“Our position is that Nigeria is being run as a Banana Republic; a country in which the structure of government depends on the whims and caprices of the leader of the government.”

The Yoruba leader described as outrageous and unacceptable that appointed office-holders were subjected to the absurdity of having to go through the Chief of Staff to see the President.

“We are talking of high public officials such as governors, ministers, ambassadors, top federal career civil servants, National Assembly members and, to our collective embarrassment, the Vice-President.

“A Chief of Staff is no more than the head of the president’s kitchen cabinet, the president’s collection of personal staff, that has no superiority to the structural pillars established by the constitution of Nigeria.

“Abba Kyari’s unconstitutional position as de facto president in recent times, coupled with an elected President who is periodically nowhere to be found, has seriously denuded the legitimacy of the government in our country.”

Akintoye said this manifested the seizure of government by a cabal belonging to a small section of the country, perpetuating impunity, and spiteful disregard for the respect due to the other sections and nationalities of Nigeria.

“We have a Vice President who has been boxed into a disrespectful corner simply because he does not belong to the self-appointed owners of our country,” he added.

Akintoye observed that majority of Nigerians and the international community have been watching in disbelief how Africa’s most populous nation is being run like the personal estate of a small cabal.

The YWC advised Buhari and the presidency to free itself of powerful people and allow the federal government to run as it should in order to ensure that the masses get the dividends of democracy.